June Hikes and Beaches

June was a bit of a strange month, in that I traveled to California without any dogs along. I started in Oakland/San Francisco, saw Golden Gate, headed out to Yosemite the next day, then spent the following four days driving back to Oregon through the redwoods along the California coast.

Earlier in the month before the California trip, I did make it out to Beazell Forest one more time. I went with Ptera and it was late in the day, so we tried out the one trail there that we haven't done before, which is shorter than the main ridge trail. We had fun and finished our hike before dark.

We started at Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco.

Golden Gate bridge, with Fort Point in the lower left

Yosemite was fun to see, but it was crowded. The trolleys were super crowded, but there was nowhere to park if you drove around, so you either crammed yourself in with everyone else or drove around and around looking to find somewhere to park. I'm glad I saw it once, but I doubt I will ever be back. (I did think that better maps and better information online would have helped a lot in making the trip more smooth and more enjoyable.)

Yosemite Falls

After Yosemite, we headed to the coast, where I tried ziplining for the first time ever. I have something of a fear of heights, and bungee jumping years ago was one of the worst decisions I ever made. Ziplining, however, turned out to be awesome. I went to Sonoma Canopy Tours, and the guides were great, giving instructions on ziplining, giving information about the trees we were in, and in helping me out when I was scared of the jump off.

I think these bridges were actually the worst part of the ziplining.

At the end, there is a rappel down to get out of the final tree. Stepping over the edge is always the scary part, whether for a rappel or for the ziplining itself, but it was fun.

On the way up the coast, we stopped at a super cute hotel in a super cute down. Mendocino Hotel is in Mendocino, CA and is totally Victorian style from the outside to all the furnishings inside. The entire town including the hotel has amazing gardens as well, and the hotel balcony has amazing views.

Then we really hit the redwoods proper, and had to do some touristy stops.

The most amazing hike we went on was Fern Canyon. The road to get there is horrible, gravel/dirt, super bumpy, under construction, with huge delays, and even two stream crossings. You think the entire time that there is no way this is going to be worth it. But then you get there, and it totally is. Biggest down side I can see to potentially going back there is that no dogs are allowed on this hike.

Showing a ton of restraint, I am just sharing one photo from Fern Canyon itself. It was amazing, though. Huge, towering walls covered in five different varieties of fern. I can share more photos later if people are interested. It was, basically, one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen.

Grandma for scale of the walls.

We saw more of the redwoods, but nothing could top Fern Canyon.

And that really is the sum up of my month. Not a ton of hiking with the dog, but I did get to see some awesome new places and enjoy a fun trip with my grandma.